Oftentimes when a federal regulator charges after a subprime auto finance company, it’s the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or the Federal Trade Commission doing the investigations and handing out enforcement actions.

Last week, it was the Securities and Exchange Commission getting involved in auto-finance oversight.

The SEC announced fraud charges against two former executives of a subprime auto finance company for misleading investors about the subprime retail installment contracts that backed their $100 million securitization offering.

The SEC’s complaint — filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois — involves James Collins and Robert DiMeo, the former principals of Honor Finance.

The complaint alleges Collins and DiMeo were responsible for false and misleading statements about, and engaged in deceptive conduct regarding, Honor’s servicing practices in connection with the Honor Automobile Trust Securitization 2016-1 (HATS).

Officials said the complaint charges that Honor packaged together several thousand installment contracts Honor funded to serve as collateral for the HATS offering, which raised $100 million through the sale of interest-bearing notes to investors.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Collins and DiMeo took various steps designed to “artificially inflate” the value of the collateral underlying HATS. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Collins and DiMeo were responsible for, among other things, including contracts in the deal that were not eligible to be included in the securitization vehicle, extending repayment dates without contract holder’s knowledge, and forgiving payments due from delinquent consumers.

The complaint also claims that, because of these improper practices, the servicing and performance information Honor provided to investors at the time of the offering and in later monthly reports was false.

“Investors in asset-backed securities are entitled to the same full and accurate disclosure as investors in other types of securities,” said Osman Nawaz, acting chief of the SEC’s complex financial instruments unit. “This case reflects our continued and resolute commitment to policing offerings in this space.”

Jennifer Leete, associate director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, added these comments in a news release.

“We charge Collins and DiMeo with intentionally misleading investors, the underwriter, and ratings agencies in order to securitize loans that should not have been included in HATS and hide Honor’s improper servicing practices,” Leete said.

“In addition, because of their alleged misconduct, Honor continued to overstate the performance of the deal long after the securitization was issued,” she added.

Officials said the SEC’s complaint charges the defendants with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, officer and director bars, disgorgement with prejudgment interest and civil penalties.

According to the news release, the SEC’s investigation was conducted by Jason Anthony and Amy Sumner, with assistance from Daniel Nigro. The investigation was supervised by Laura Metcalfe and Paul Pashkoff. The litigation is being handled by David Nasse and Christopher Martin.